Young people of minority ethnic origin in England and early parenthood: Views from young parents and service providers

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.03.011Get rights and content

Abstract

The paper explores the phenomenon of early parenthood in minority ethnic communities in England.

The data were collected using focus group interviews, in-depth semi-structured interviews and a telephone survey. The sample consisted of 139 participants (41 service providers, 10 grandmothers, 88 young parents).

The findings map out the complexity and diversity of experience of early parenthood amongst young people of minority ethnic origin, not least the multiple attachments many experience in relation to their social groups, religious affiliations and the traditional patterns of parenting within their immediate and extended family. Both the young parents and professionals in this study constructed early parenthood in more positive terms than is currently portrayed in the contemporary policy. The findings are analysed and discussed in relation to ethnic identity, social inclusion and exclusion. We explore participants’ attempts to counter negative ‘deficit’ models of early parenthood with reference to perspectives on youth, parenthood and contemporary strategic policy.

In conclusion, we suggest an unambiguous focus on the reduction of pregnancy is not a credible message when teenage pregnancy is a social norm for a particular ethnic or cultural group. For young parents of Muslim faith in particular, teenage parenting within marriage is not necessarily considered a ‘problem’ or seen as a distinctive event. Most participants did not view early parenthood as a barrier to re-establishing career and educational aspirations. A wide diversity of experience amongst young parents is evidenced in the communities studied; this needs to be reflected more comprehensively both in UK policy and in support services.

Introduction

The 1999 Social Exclusion Unit report highlighted that the UK had the highest levels of teenage conceptions and births in Western Europe (Social Exclusion Unit (SEU), 1999); it also observed that teenage mothers were vulnerable in terms of poor access to education, employment childcare and other types of support. In response, UK policy has focused on reducing teenage conceptions and births and reducing social exclusion among young parents. Government attention to teenage pregnancy included a specific policy research programme. This article describes the findings of one project in this programme, in which the aim was to examine the experiences of young Black and minority ethnic (BME) parents. The study addressed perspectives on decision-making, parenthood and support networks in relation to young parents from African Caribbean, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and dual or multiple heritage backgrounds (see http://www.dfes.gov.uk/teenagepregnancy).

Recent quantitative analyses have emphasised that the roots of social exclusion for young parents lie in poverty and deprivation, not in early parenthood per se (Ermisch & Pevalin, 2003). Qualitative studies and reviews have also questioned the direction of government policy, and its divergence from young parents’ own perceptions (McDermott and Graham, 2005). Policy, meanwhile, remains focused on the original objectives of reducing teenage conceptions and births, and tackling social exclusion. National and regional statistics illustrate a small, overall downward trend in conceptions, with some regional variations (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/teenagepregnancy/dsp_Content.cfm?PageID=85).

In this context, what does a focus on ethnicity have to add? Our starting-point was the absence of research concerning the experiences of young parents from minority ethnic backgrounds. Also, a lack of recognition that early parenthood may not be viewed negatively by some communities. We were also interested in practitioners’ observations about the experiences of young minority ethnic parents, both in general and concerning support services.

This concern to address a gap in research was informed by a number of theoretical interests. Ethnic identity may be complex, may shift over time and may not be associated with a geographical location (Mac an Ghaill, 1999). The concept of ‘situational ethnicity’ (Mason, 2000) recognises that people regard themselves differently depending on the context, e.g., a British born Pakistani Muslim young person may regard himself or herself as British Muslim in some situations and as Pakistani or South Asian in others. In an increasingly complex, multi-ethnic society, many individuals come from families with multiple ethnic origins (Aspinall, 2000). We asked participants to self-assign ethnicity (Nazroo, 1997), in addition to asking them to provide details of their social and family networks. Membership of an ethnic group may also be associated with affiliation with a faith or religious group.

The other relevant dimension of recent research is work by Karlsen & Nazroo (2002a), Karlsen & Nazroo (2002b) and Nazroo (2003) exploring the relationship between ethnicity, health and social class. Nazroo suggests that this relationship hinges on three dimensions of the structural context: the cumulative influence of disadvantage over a lifetime, the location of many minority ethnic communities in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and the consequences of racism. This framework suggests several themes for investigation in relation to teenage parenthood and ethnicity, including, for example, parents’ perceptions of the experience of pregnancy and birth and associated services. Before turning to our findings on these themes, we note some points from research to date on teenage parenthood (in general) and on family relationships (with respect to ethnicity).

A number of studies have begun to question the ways in which teenage parenthood has been constructed both in research and in policy initiatives. Arai (2003a), Arai (2003b) examines the ways in which bearing children ‘early’ is not seen as a legitimate choice: risks and problems are associated with young women themselves and their partners, rather than with the range of circumstances they encounter, including poverty and disadvantage. Their own voices are largely marginalised. Arai (2003b) also argues that UK rates of teenage conceptions and births have been compared simplistically with lower rates elsewhere in Europe, noting that the pace and nature of transitions to adulthood differ markedly between countries. The UK, for example, has been characterised by a relatively early entry into the labour market for a long time, particularly for young working-class people. Arai suggests that it is not realistic to separate teenage conception and parenting levels from this socio-economic context (Arai, 2003b). Bonell (2004) argues that socio-economic penalties for teenage motherhood arise from culturally and historically relative social responses.

Whatever their perspective on ‘early’ parenthood, many studies have documented aspects of social exclusion facing teenage parents and their children, and have examined responses to this. However, in-depth studies concerning support and inclusion have tended to be in the minority, compared to those assessing interventions to reduce conceptions. Swann, Bowe, McCormick, and Kosmin (2003) produced a ‘review of reviews’ encompassing both preventative strategies and support services. However, while they identified 20 reviews relevant to the issue of prevention, they found only three dealing with improving outcomes for teenage parents, concerning areas such as housing support and parenting skills. However, none of the material discussed in this review explores issues of ethnicity. In an earlier meta-analysis, Scholl, Hediger, and Belsky (1994) noted that some behavioural risk factors (smoking, drinking alcohol, drug use) were less prevalent among minority ethnic teenage mothers than among young white mothers. In terms of ethnicity (but not specifically in terms of teenage parents), a number of studies have also suggested that current sexual health and antenatal services should be more sensitive to BME perspectives (Soni Raleigh, Almond, & Kiri, 1998).

McDermott and Graham (2005) completed a systematic review of qualitative studies of teenage pregnancy and parenting, emphasising both the significance of material deprivation and the difficulties young women faced in developing a ‘good mother’ identity while making a viable living. They concluded that young mothers mobilise their personal resources and networks within a ‘resilient mothering’ approach that resists stigmatisation. Once again, however, this review addresses teenage motherhood in general, without reference to ethnicity. As Bonell (2004) and Phoenix (1991) have noted, sampling by ethnic group has been characteristic of much USA-based research on teenage parenting but not of UK research to date.

Turning to questions of ethnicity, analyses of teenage conceptions and births in the UK have suggested that Bangladeshi, African Caribbean and Pakistani young women are over-represented among young parents (Berthoud, 2001). However, these analyses have included little research on the experience of dual ethnic origin young parents. Although some shared experiences exist between the populations involved in our study, for example in their exposure to poverty and racism, the situation is complex. Household patterns, attitudes to marriage and preferences concerning when to bear children are all variable, and research in these areas is uneven. Households and relationships are increasingly heterogeneous: for example, Aspinall (2000) indicated that 26.3% of Black Caribbean men and 14.3% of Black Caribbean women had a white partner.

Some research on adolescent relationships has a bearing on the context for teenage parenthood in minority ethnic communities. Hennink, Diamond, and Cooper (1999) emphasised the influence of family and religion on teenage girls’ experience of adolescent relationships in South Asian communities; in contrast, African-Caribbean and white teenage girls described themselves as more strongly influenced by peers. However, these authors also noted distinct experiences within South Asian communities: ‘most notably that girls of Muslim and Sikh faith report more social restrictions and limited involvement in relationships [before marriage] than their peers of Hindu faith’ (Hennink et al. 1999, p. 870). Young women leaving home (for example, to go to university) did report an increase in peer influences rather than family or community ones. These included peer pressure to embark on sexual relationships, which the young women did not always welcome: a parallel with white teenage girls’ experiences.

Overall, the authors emphasised the heterogeneity of the experience of young women from South Asian backgrounds, but also noted emerging differences between young women's attitudes and expectations and those of their parents. Basit (2002) identified rising career aspirations among girls of Muslim faith. Dosanjh and Ghuman (1997) also found some indications, among South Asian parents, of an increasing willingness to negotiate over marriage partners, although their commitment to core religious and family values remained strong. It is likely, then, that the context for teenage parenthood in South Asian communities is changing in some respects, both inside and outside marriage. However, the issue of ‘family honour’ within South Asian families is complex, and young people hold multiple social identities (Ahmad, 2002). With respect to African Caribbean and young people of dual or multiple heritage, the extent of culturally influenced patterns in relation to teenage pregnancy and parenthood is largely unknown (Phoenix, 1991).

Lastly, to date there has been little research into the ways in which patterns of social and economic disadvantage—but also social networks and other forms of social capital—may interact to affect well-being and social inclusion among minority ethnic young parents (Morrow, 2001). Some research conducted in the United States and in European Union (EU) countries has explored the inter-relationship between ethnicity, early parenthood and patterns of family and community support. Franklin (1987) identified the high value attached to parenthood (including early parenthood) ‘in expanding kinship networks of mutual assistance’ within North American Black communities’ (1987, p. 32), although this concept needs to be viewed cautiously within a very different UK context. Studies of motherhood in UK South Asian communities have noted the continuing importance of extended family and community networks, as complex sources of support and constraint (Bhopal, 1997). This underlines the importance of exploring all aspects of experience among parents aged below 20 yr, the perspectives of young married parents; of parents who are not married but who are in steady relationships, of those who are lone parents and of young fathers.

There has been extensive research on the intersection between youth, ethnicity and patterns of exclusion, from academic and from policy perspectives (Morrow, 2001). However, to date much of this work has developed separately from research on the specific issues of pregnancy and parenthood; concerns about exclusion have been framed largely in terms of social and economic disadvantage (employment, education, housing), and references to other aspects of personal and social life are often indirect. Many of the issues faced by teenagers and BME young people in particular during pregnancy and early parenthood are not exclusively related to the demands of pregnancy but are part of the experience of adolescence. Young people from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds face many constraints and challenges in their everyday lives which impact on their abilities, aspirations and choices as parents.

A life course perspective (Hockey and James, 2003) suggests a number of themes for investigation, in order to develop a more robust understanding of the transition to parenthood for BME young people. For example, there has been considerable policy emphasis on developing forms of practical ‘support’ designed to reduce social exclusion (both in general and with respect to BME young parents). However, in Western societies teenage years are currently associated with contradictory feelings of insecurity and reluctance to accept or to seek outside help. The mood swings of adolescence, and the inconsistencies in behaviour associated with them, may compound the pressures on young parents, reinforcing a sense of needing to ‘prove oneself’ both as a new parent and as a young adult. Scope for tension and misunderstanding may be reinforced for young BME parents in specific ways, as they access services which are still predominantly staffed and managed by non-BME personnel. In this context, any reluctance to conform—for example by late booking for antenatal care, or by opting out of full-time education—may be interpreted negatively by outside agencies.

At the same time, research is lacking about young BME parents’ own family and peer networks. Some research has explored the ways in which these come under pressure for young parents in general, but little is known about how young BME parents renegotiate their social support systems from pregnancy onwards. Young people from socially and economically disadvantaged BME households face many constraints and challenges in their everyday lives, and we need to know how this impact upon on their abilities, aspirations and choices as parents (Higginbottom, Mathers, Marsh, Kirkham, & Owen, 2005).

How do specific experiences of exclusion and/or discrimination influence young parents’ ability to look ahead to a positive future? While in some cases lack of career choices or restricted aspirations may be part of the context for becoming pregnant at a young age, research to date suggests that there is no simple causal relationship here (Phoenix, 1991).

For young people from BME communities the essence of the conflicts and challenges inherent in being a teenager are no different from those of any other ethnic group. However, the nature of some of the triggers for anxiety and insecurity may be uniquely linked to issues of prejudice, discrimination and a feeling of ‘distance’, ‘difference’ or exclusion from wider society. Inadequate levels of effective or appropriate service provision and a long-established government focus on teenage parents as problematic are part of the social context in which pregnant teenagers and prospective young fathers are appraised (Serrant-Green, 2001).

Lastly, as indicated above, some recent research has suggested areas of change in the family and social context for teenage pregnancy in BME communities. For young people, negotiating differences in expectations from peers, from parents and from wider ethnic community networks may incorporate finding a place in relation to responsibility for the community and maintaining community norms. BME young people may also live with a degree of difference from their parents which is not solely based on age but includes the tensions of growing up with different social cultural and ethnic experiences of being black in Britain. The adjustments required within BME communities to acculturation, and to partial erosion of the boundaries between new and old cultural norms, are often experienced acutely in adolescence.

We drew on the ethnographic tradition to examine the experience of young parents, including contraception and abortion decision-making. We focused both on overt or explicit dimensions of culture and covert or tacit dimensions—i.e. those that may not be fully articulated, but that are nevertheless shared (Fetterman, 1998). In each study location, we established a preliminary ‘Research Networking Collaboration’ involving young people and key practitioners. The data gathered in these consultations provided important guidance to inform good practice with young BME parents.

Our study population included young parents of African Caribbean, dual ethnic origin and Muslim faith (Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Somali, Turkish, Yemeni origin) in three locations in England. Most were born in England. Participants were invited to self-assign ethnicity; we also recorded religious affiliation and the place of birth of participants’ parents and grandparents. We use the term ‘dual ethnic origin’ rather than ‘mixed-race’ because of that term's pejorative associations (Mac an Ghaill, 1999). Dual ethnic origin young parents themselves used the following terms: mixed race (most common), mixed white/Caribbean, bi-racial, mixed black white, half-caste, mixed white/Caribbean. Young parents of African Caribbean origin described themselves as: black Caribbean (most common), British Caribbean, black, African Caribbean, black British, Caribbean, and black English. The young parents of Muslim faith in the individual interviews all used terms to describe themselves derived from their country of origin, e.g. Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Yemeni. This range of terminology highlights the dissonance between the terms adopted by young people themselves and the classifications used in the census and by statutory bodies.

Non-probability purposive sampling was used to recruit service providers and other key-stakeholders; young parents and grandmothers were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. The young parents in the study included one cohort aged 19 or under (with a child less than 1 year) and a second cohort aged 20 or over, with whom a child or children aged over 1 year of age, and who had become pregnant at 19 or under.

The methods used were a telephone survey (service providers only) and a combination of focus group interviews (FGI), semi-structured interviews and audio-taped diaries with young parents, as follows1:

  • (a)

    Focus group interviews with young mothers now in their 20s, looking back on their experience of teenage parenthood (5 groups; n=19).

  • (b)

    Individual interviews with young mothers now in their 20s (n=15).

  • (c)

    Individual interviews with young mothers aged up to 19 (n=45).

  • (d)

    Individual interviews with young fathers aged (n=6).

  • (e)

    Individual interviews with grandmothers (n=10).

The study locations were Bradford, Sheffield and the London boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark (all locations with high minority ethnic populations and a high teenage pregnancy rate). Following initial recruitment of young parents via professionals, the snowballing technique (Higginbottom, 2004) proved to be the most successful strategy for recruitment.

The telephone survey method was selected as a flexible means of eliciting the views of busy service providers. The FGI established the broader issues of investigation in relation to the research questions. Five FGI were conducted in total, in the premises of community groups and associations in the three locations. A projection technique (Greenbaum, 1998), using photographs and images of BME young parents, was used to initiate discussion, in combination with a topic guide. The findings from the FGI influenced the development of the topic guide for semi-structured interviews, which formed the main method of data collection.

We conducted semi-structured interviews (rather than unstructured ones) in order to pursue the identified research themes and the additional points mapped out in the FGI. These were included in a broad topic guide, complemented by a fictitious vignette (chosen from a selection written to match each interviewee's gender and ethnic origin, and read to interviewees at the outset to initiate discussion). All interviews were conducted in English, in participants’ homes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teenage mothers and fathers and with grandmothers. We attempted to recruit grandfathers, but had little success; many of the grandmothers were single parents themselves.

The ethnicity and age of the interviewers were taken into account, as young parents may perceive older people to be judgmental. We appointed two women of African Caribbean origin and a man of South Asian origin, all aged in their 20s. A young white British member of the research team also conducted interviews, as did the principal investigator (who is of dual–ethnic origin). Interviews (telephone and face to face) were tape recorded, with permission, and transcribed.

We used the ‘Framework’ method of analysis (National Centre for Social Research (NCSR), 2001) to provide a systematic and transparent approach. First, an analytical framework was developed, following familiarisation with the transcripts, and each dimension was numbered (see Box 1).

Following ordering and summarising of data, identification of recurring and significant themes, we constructed a narrative.

Below, we summarise our findings in relation to four key areas: perspectives on support services; perspectives on teenage parenthood and ‘inclusion’; the role of family support networks; and young fathers’ views. Accounts both from young parents and from practitioners are included in connection with each of these areas. Following this, we develop some general themes for discussion.

Many practitioners were keen to avoid crude generalisations about BME young parents:

It would be a mistake to make broad, sweeping generalisations … [or] to pretend that I had a great deal of knowledge … what we need is more information and support from those [minority] communities to tell us what their needs are. (Z, professional)

Practitioners described a lack of comprehensive data regarding minority ethnic young parents in their areas:

There is very little information about… what the proportion of our teenage pregnancy rate is, due to the black and minority ethnic… population… . (P, professional)

Some practitioners described specific local evaluations, systems for routine monitoring of clients’ ethnicity, but many were not aware of these or of other sources of data. Different sources of research and evaluation data were described as distinct examples, rather than as part of a coherent, overall picture. In this context, there was a concern to counter taken for granted assumptions such as the stereotype of young women of Muslim faith as not sexually inactive before or outside marriage:

We have had to have in-house security in the hospital protecting young women whose brothers and fathers are threatening to kill them because they have become pregnant by somebody who is inappropriate or because they are not married … we know that young Muslim women are sexually active and they are at risk of teenage pregnancy but I think the public at large think that it wouldn’t happen. (E, professional)

While the comment above describes conflict within some families of Muslim faith, there were contrasting examples of reconciliation and consensus too:

There was a fourteen year old Asian girl who was pregnant, born and bred in X…she was terrified her life was at risk, but wanted to go ahead with the pregnancy and move to another part of the country so we did encourage her to take up some counselling… and she eventually told her parents … she was going to have a termination, but now she is going to have the baby, so it is through counselling and support, and… one family member, she has … managed to get her whole family to support her. (E professional)


Quite a lot of the [Pakistani and Bangladeshi] young women get pregnant at 18 or 19, and they are married, and it is an absolute delight to the whole community. (B, professional)

Diverse views about pregnancy and termination were also described in relation to African Caribbean young people:

The issue of termination doesn’t arise. ‘Don’t undo what God has done to you.’ Abortion take up is fairly low in my experience, if you are young and black then abortion is probably minimised. (ZG, professional)

These included the perceived risk of missing out on parenthood:

My aunt, because she was in the same situation as I was when she was younger, and she said ‘don’t make the mistake that you give away your child or you have an abortion… because… you might never get the chance to have the next child.’ She never had the chance to have a next child, that was her only child she could bring… … I discussed it with the midwife and she said it was up to me and… then I knew I wanted it and my friend was advising me to have it anyway…in my heart I wanted my child. (African Caribbean young mother, interview 39)

There were also contrasting pictures, concerning responses to inter-ethnic partnerships:

A number of the black girls, Afro-Caribbean girls, have actually had relationships with older Asian boys and become pregnant and the pregnancy and the relationship have been um, problematic… simply because the families and younger peers… have been really hostile. (M, professional).


One of the most fulfilling things that has happened in my job… … three young couples came to a group and the guys were Asian and the girls were Afro Caribbean… they all came back to the [postnatal] reunion and the dads were sat there with babies on their knee, feeding them, and it was really lovely to see that they had been able to access the service. (L, professional).

Practitioners worried that young women of Muslim faith may have been under-represented in accessing advice and support services (but lacked firm data). As indicated above, their specific needs were seen as including a robust approach to safeguarding confidentiality within and between agencies, both in relation to advice and counselling and in relation to termination. Service providers also reported a preference for one-to-one antenatal and postnatal support services, not groups, among Pakistani and Bangladeshi young parents.

Unsurprisingly, the models of support which were explicitly valued both by practitioners and by young parents were those offering a flexible, non-judgemental approach. Young mothers in all three study locations described community-based services as approachable and valuable. However, their take-up of antenatal classes was not high; this is a concern, given the importance of good antenatal care in improving pregnancy outcomes; however, where there were sessions specifically for young mothers, these were well received. Young mothers identified community-based staff funded through Sure Start or Sure Start Plus as particularly helpful:

I have got a key worker from Sure Start… you can talk to [her] about stuff… She's all right… She… will take me… if I need to go to the doctor's… she helps with things. She… came with me to see the new house, when I got [it]… . (Dual ethnic origin young mother)

Most of our respondents also found health visitor support valuable. In contrast, their experiences of contact with GPs, hospital doctors and hospital-based midwives were much more mixed. Young mothers described occasions when they had felt disapproved of or dismissed. Most attributed this to age rather than to racism:

They look at me as if… just because I was pregnant, or just because I have got children, I [haven’t] got a future and I can’t do other things that other people are doing… when I went to hospital… giving birth, it really affected me… the way the midwife and the doctors spoke to me, it really upset me… , I don’t ever speak to no one else like that, maybe it's because I am young and they know that I don’t know. (African Caribbean young mother).

No interviewees ascribed negative attitudes solely or primarily to racism, but the issue of discrimination is complex and difficult to deconstruct. For some, age and racism were bound up together, as in this antenatal care example:

So that's really bad … I think it was the thing where because she was black there was people who are like ‘look at that black girl wasting her life’—do you know what I mean? That's how she was treated. (Focus group member, reflecting on a friend's experience).

Professionals aired some concerns about service configuration which were not specific to BME young people, but which were seen as affecting access for all young parents. These included concerns with service sustainability and access:

One of the hindrances is the clarification of roles… we have got Connexions up and running…, and there are lots of other agencies out there that have got teenage pregnancy advisers … trying to get those people to communicate and clarify what their roles are … it can become quite confusing… . I think you’ve got to be careful with young people; they can become overloaded with support. At times, they can have four or five workers, working with them, and you’ve just got to make sure that the right person is working with the young person in the right way. (P, professional).

There was also a concern that Teenage Pregnancy Unit funding and strategies have prioritised prevention more than support, via specific targets and funding patterns. Some providers saw this as a source of tension; most expressed a preference for regarding support and prevention as allied priorities, rather than competing ones:

It's difficult to do preventative work and at the same time support young parents, and get people to understand that if you don’t support young parents, you are only creating more problems. So it's getting that balance right for people, to see that… support to young parents is also prevention. (S, professional)

The married young people of Muslim faith were often especially pleased about becoming parents. Many of the African Caribbean and dual ethnic origin young mothers described initial ‘shock’, followed quickly by more positive feelings. Fathers were generally pleased, although they also described a distinct ‘shock’ phase. Young mothers were aware that an ‘early’ pregnancy was commonly seen as a costly mistake by older people; however, their own views reflected both strong personal aspirations and a sense that motherhood and a successful, independent life should not be mutually exclusive:

I didn’t want to give up college…, that's why I was thinking about an abortion. But then I knew I could go back to college anyway. Having a baby don’t stop you going back to education… people always say how having a baby is going to stop you doing this and that, but it don’t stop you doing nothing. Unless you don’t want to go back and do it. (African Caribbean young mother).

Approximately half the study samples were educated to GCSE level, and a small number possessed A-level qualifications. The overwhelming majority of young mothers had clear career aspirations, although their experiences of accessing appropriate childcare and of continuing education were mixed. At the time of interview, some had not yet had time to test their hopes and plans against practical constraints:

Well I want to be an accountant… I want him to go to nursery, by the time I go back to work, he will be in nursery. My life will be nice and I can buy my own house. (African Caribbean young mother)

For the majority, explicit aspirations included enjoying parenthood, not marginalising it:

I want to do childminding…the only problem is that I basically have to be around for her. And probably… I will have to do a part-time [job] to be around her… just to make sure that she doesn’t only see mummy on the weekend, she will see her on every day of her life. (African Caribbean young mother)

Practitioners’ views converged very closely with these comments; some openly acknowledged that their observations diverged somewhat from government policy:

The young mums I see are very positive about being pregnant and having the baby. It is very difficult to counter arguments that young women come out with, saying … ‘I want another one before my first gets too old’. When you have two it is really quite difficult—[but] it is very difficult to counter the argument when they make such a good job of parenting, it's just the odd one that needs extra support. (ZG, professional)

Some professionals described the transition to parenthood as a positive turning-point, echoing points made by Phoenix (1991)15 years ago:

I think being a parent is very positive for a lot of the African Caribbean community… and I would say that's true from some of our young white women… I think that is something that is harder for the government to tackle… when a young woman has said, ‘well, being a mum is the best thing that has happened to me, it's helped me focus my life… ‘ It's actually won them more positive experiences…”. (B, professional)

As indicated above, negative experiences in health and allied services were usually seen by young parents as related to age rather than ethnicity, although sometimes the two coincided. The most common examples of exclusion or perceived disapproval concerned everyday, informal public settings:

My neighbours are all right, it's older people, in the streets. Especially white people, they really stick their noses up… . Even going to the post office, everyone knows what you go to the post office for. That is why I have got my money going into my bank, so I don’t need to go to the post office … , they think you are not doing well just because you are a young teenager”. (African Caribbean young mother)

Young parents acknowledged the limitations in their lives concerning education, transport, social life and poverty; however, they balanced these factors against the opportunities and benefits that they perceived parenthood to provide.

Most of the young parents in our study had strong family ties and, in the case of young women, close relationships with their mothers. African Caribbean and dual ethnic origin young parents often experienced a fracture in this relationship on disclosing pregnancy, soon followed by reconciliation. Commonly, young women reported that they had become closer to their mother since giving birth, and that they relied on their mothers as their main supporters. Some grandmothers had given up jobs in order to provide support. The role of the young women's mother was especially significant if they had experienced post-natal depression:

He's in crèche Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays for a few hours and then my mum will pick him up…I had depression as well before…. My mum was really good. She looked after him for me, she bathed him, and she was just there. (Young mother of dual ethnic origin)

Many of the young mothers interviewed had been born to young single mothers themselves. They reported less strong ties with their fathers; siblings, grandmothers and parents-in-law frequently had significant support roles. Family support was a crucial factor in the parenting experiences identified by all groups. However, a minority of young parents had little contact with their family.

The majority of the African-Caribbean and dual ethnic origin young women were no longer in a relationship with the father of their infant. Some married young women from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities lived apart from their partner but with his extended family in the UK, following an arranged marriage in the Indian sub-continent. Home Office regulations require a young woman to wait until she is 18 to apply for her partner to join her and some applications are rejected.

Practitioners acknowledged that young fathers were often marginalised, both in hospital-based midwifery services and in advice services:

always geared up to the mums, rather than the mums and the fathers. (X, professional)

There was also some concern that the specific needs of young fathers recently arrived in the UK are not being met. Young mothers had very mixed views about their partners’ or ex-partners’ contributions, indicating gendered patterns and sources of strain which are familiar to many new parents:

They’re not there, they know even if they don’t sit at home every night you’re going to have to. So whether they’re there or not your kid's still got to be looked after… They can go and have their life, and then come home where it's all nicey nicey can’t they…A man can always do what he wants.

I don’t know, he were good with him, he's always been really good… but it's not the same. He loved him more like a little brother or sister where he could walk away, and not like his own.

He was good with E when he used to spend time with him, he’d rather be with his dad than with me now. (FGI participants)

Young BME fathers felt that practitioners and lay people treated pregnancy, birth and early parenting as female matters. These feelings echo those of other fathers (Quinton, Pollock, & Golding, 2002). However, like young mothers, most young fathers also felt that there was a clear age bias in service provision. The ‘shock phase’ young men experienced, when they learned of the pregnancy, could last for a substantial period. In common with mothers, they saw life as becoming ‘more serious’, involving a significant change from ‘clubbing and stuff like that’. Their mothers and their partners’ mothers were important to them, as well as to their partners.

The small numbers of fathers interviewed were all uniformly positive about their role, although they were struggling to reconcile it with male peer norms. The small number of fathers participating in the study is a limitation, reflecting the fact that few of the young mothers we interviewed were in a continuing relationship with the father of their child. More research with young fathers is clearly a priority.

Section snippets

Discussion

UK national policy on teenage pregnancy and parenthood has tended to address ethnicity primarily in terms of a suspected over-representation of BME groups among teenage parents. This has created some impetus for initiating specific services (e.g. outreach); however, the knowledge base remains patchy and young parents’ own voices have remained marginal. The interview and focus group extracts presented above offer some new insights, confirm some messages from earlier studies and also show

Conclusion

An unambiguous focus on the reduction of teenage pregnancy is not a credible policy message, when social norms vary substantially both within and between ethnic groups concerning fertility, age and parenthood. Future policy initiatives need to be framed with enough flexibility to reflect these variations.

First, policy (national and local) needs to reflect the wide range of experiences among young parents (including early pregnancy within marriage, as well as positive achievements and

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank The Teenage Pregnancy Unit, Department for Education and Skills, UK (formerly located in the Department of Health) who funded this study, the study participants and Dr. Catherine Dennison, Research Programme Manager.

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